A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2-9 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to required courses of school
instruction generally; requiring the accumulation of one and
one-half years of instruction in the study of the Declaration
of Independence and other founding American historical
documents including the Bill of Rights before high school
graduation; and requiring study of the historical, political
and social environments at the time these documents were
generated; prohibiting study of social problems, economics,
foreign affairs, the United Nations, world government,
socialism or communism until basic courses in American state
and local geography and history are completed; and misdemeanor
penalty.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §18-2-9 of the Code of West Virginia,1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§18-2-9. Required courses of instruction; violation and penalty.

(a) In all public, private, parochial and denominational
schools located within this state, there shall be given prior to
the completion of the eighth grade at least one year of instruction
in the history of the State of West Virginia. The schools shall
require regularfor graduation courses of instruction, accumulating
to a minimum of one and one-half years of instruction, by the
completion of the twelfth grade in the history of the United
States, in civics, in the study of the United States’ founding
documents, specifically, the Declaration of Independence, in the
Constitution of the United States, with emphasis on the Bill of
Rights and in the government of the State of West Virginia for the
purpose of teaching, fostering and perpetuating the ideals,
principles and spirit of political and economic democracy in
America and increasing the knowledge of the organization and
machinery of the government of the United States and of the State
of West Virginia. The state board shall, with the advice of the
state superintendent, prescribe the courses of study covering these
subjects for the public schools. It shall be the duty of the
officials or boards having authority over the respective private,
parochial and denominational schools to prescribe courses of study
for the schools under their control and supervision similar to
those required for the public schools. To further such study,
every high school student eligible by age for voter registration
shall be afforded the opportunity to register to vote pursuant to
section twenty-two, article two, chapter three of this code.

(b) The study of the history of the United States and the
United States̓ founding documents required by subsection (a) of
this section shall include the study of the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the United States with an
emphasis on the Bill of Rights, using the historical, political and
social environments surrounding each document at the time of its
initial passage or ratification and shall include the study of
historical documents such as the Federalist Papers and the Anti-federalist Papers to firmly establish the historical background
leading to the establishment of the provisions of the Constitution
and Bill of Rights by the founding fathers for the purposes of
safeguarding our Constitutional republic.

(c) Before students may participate in secondary level courses
involving the study of social problems, global economics, foreign
affairs, the United Nations, world government, socialism or
communism, pupils shall first have completed basic instruction in
geography, United States history, United States government and the
government of the State of West Virginia, local governments in West
Virginia, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutions of
the United States and the State of West Virginia.

(b)(d) The state board shall cause to be taught in all of the
public schools of this state the subject of health education,
including instruction in any of the grades six through twelve as
considered appropriate by the county board, on: (1) The
prevention, transmission and spread of acquired immune deficiency
syndrome and other sexually transmitted diseases; (2) substance
abuse, including the nature of alcoholic drinks and narcotics,
tobacco products, and other potentially harmful drugs, with special
instruction as to their effect upon the human system and upon
society in general; (3) the importance of healthy eating and
physical activity to maintaining healthy weight; and (4) education
concerning CPR and First Aid. The course curriculum requirements
and materials for the instruction shall be adopted by the state
board by rule in consultation with the Department of Health and
Human Resources. The state board shall prescribe a standardized
health education assessment to be administered within health
education classes to measure student health knowledge and program
effectiveness.

An opportunity shall be afforded to the parent or guardian of
a child subject to instruction in the prevention, transmission and
spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and other sexually
transmitted diseases to examine the course curriculum requirements
and materials to be used in the instruction. The parent or
guardian may exempt the child from participation in the instruction
by giving notice to that effect in writing to the school principal.

(c)(e) Any person violating the provisions of this section
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not exceeding $10 for each violation, and each week
during which there is a violation shall constitute a separate
offense. If the person so convicted occupy a position in
connection with the public schools, that person shall automatically
be removed from that position and shall be ineligible for
reappointment to that or a similar position for the period of one
year.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the accumulation
of one and one-half years of instruction in the study of the
Declaration of Independence and other founding American historical
documents, including the Bill of Rights, before high school
graduation. The bill also requires that students study the
historical, political and social environments at the time these
documents were generated and it prohibits study of social problems,
economics, foreign affairs, the United Nations, world government,
socialism or communism until basic courses in American state and
local geography and history are completed.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.